Briefly: “Frustrated and unfulfilled with his comfortable existence in the States, successful businessman Norm Schriever knows there is something more he is supposed to do with his life. So, he quits his job, sells and donates all of his possessions, and moves down to Tamarindo, Costa Rica, with nothing but a laptop and a surfboard, vowing to chase his long-forgotten dream of being a writer” (from the Amazon blurb).

Comments: I enjoyed this a lot. Schriever really gets into the local life. And while he uses the word “paradise” in the sub-title, he’s no dreamer. He knows what’s going on. A fellow-American in the local jail, caught doing drugs, and Schriever acts as a liaison between him and his family in the US. It’s not all sunshine and surfing. Occasionally he seemed to me to take himself just a little too seriously as “a writer”, but it was easy to forgive him.

Briefly, it’s: the account of two years the author spent as a Mormon missionary in Guatemala, 1995-1997

What I liked: Learning about a young American’s take on Guatemala, and on what it means to be a Mormon missionary.

What I didn’t like so much: There wasn’t enough in it about what it means to be a Mormon (missionary or otherwise) – a familiarity with the LDS doctrines and practice is taken for granted. There is also not much spirituality of depth in evidence. Overall, it’s a little on the naive and earnest side.

Anything else: Is that “Star Date” in the title meant to be “Start Date”? Because the journal does start on that date – and there’s no other reference to a “star date”.